Will Sweeney’s parents picked up their four kids and moved to the United States from Ireland in the late ‘80s, and shortly after arriving, Sweeney’s father sought to create a better future for his family by starting his own plumbing, heating and air conditioning business that he ran successfully for over 40 years.
Sweeney was inspired by his father’s success, and he knew that he wanted to be a business owner too one day. After developing an interest in cybersecurity at an early age, Sweeney learned as much as he could about computers, worked with his school’s IT team, and the interest stuck with him. He went on to work for companies such as KPMG, Comcast and IBM before he launched Zaviant.
Based in Philadelphia, Zaviant is a consulting company that focuses on improving the security posture of client systems to protect sensitive data by complying with official information security rules and requirements. Zaviant works with a number of mid-market businesses, organizations, and Fortune 500 companies across the country to provide solutions including data privacy, third-party vendor risk management, generative AI risk management, compliance, cyber incident response and virtual CISO services.
Since launching Zaviant, Sweeney has managed to drive an average of 85% year-over-year growth. According to his staff, he also understands how to lead by example. “He has created a company culture that uplifts and empowers employees, which has allowed him to attract the top-tier talent it takes to work with global clients,” they said.
Under Sweeney’s guidance, Zaviant recently joined Open Loop, a global program launched by Meta to bring policymakers and technology companies together to develop evidence-based policy recommendations pertaining to AI and other emerging technologies. This partnership was recognized by the Philadelphia Business Journal and Technical.ly.
Sweeney’s success has earned him recognition as a 40 Under 40 by the Philadelphia Business Journal and he was accepted to the Forbes Technology Council.
As a leader, Sweeney said he leads by example to work hard and treat people with respect. “Successful leaders need to be able to juggle conflicting priorities, provide clear direction to their team, and support their teams’ development by providing challenging opportunities aligned to their interests – all while closely managing the financial metrics that support the growth of their business and service,” he said.
If he could give his younger self advice, Sweeney said it would be that knowing how to sell the vision of your company to your team is equally important as knowing how to sell to your clients. “Sales is not only external; it’s internal,” he said. “The right people, especially top talent, need a good reason to come onboard, and you have to give them that reason.”
